Stephen Craven wrote:
I've been modeling this area and have number of maps and track charts, so
maybe I can help. Looking at an Appanoose County from 1919 the Wabash and
CB&Q lines both leave the North side of Albia closely following the present
day route of Hwy 5.
Perhaps you mean Monroe County? Albia is the county seat.
I think the only "new" track that got built because of
Red Rock dam was between Knoxville and Des Moines.
That is my understanding. I was a guest on a motor car group's
ride a few years ago, and I recall three different sets of mile
posts. More on this a few paragraphs later.
I checked my 1909 Board of Iowa Commissioners wall map. It shows
all counties, each township, and has a square for each section.
The map shows the following:
Northwest of Albia the Q and the Wabash paralleled each other.
Just above Tracy near the hamlet of Harvey, they moved away from
each other and the Wabash worked toward the Des Moines via the Des
Moines River Valley and followed the River on the north side.
The Q took the "high country" to the northwest around Harvey and
continued into Des Moines on the south side of the Des Moines
River via the high ground.
The RI also had a branch into Knoxville that paralleled the Q from
near Harvey. Did not actually parallel as it appears to be a mile
or two to the north.
Back to the "new" rouing, as I recall from the motor car trip, we
departed Des Moines on the NS/Wabash and ran through Runnels. If
there was any new construction from Des Moines to Runnels, I do
not recall it. East of Runnels we diverted on the new track to
the south and crossed to the south side of the Des Moines river on
a high bridge and fill. We worked away from the River and then
picked up the old Q and continued on it to the Tracy area. Thus,
the only "new" construction I recall is from the Runnels area,
over the DM River and back on to the Q.
Beyond Tracy and enroute down to Albia I recall seeing a couple of
different mile post series so they must have moved from one line
to the other at least once between Tracy and Albia. I well recall
doing through many back yards and this north Iowa boy was
surprised at the number of coon hounds penned in yards!!
For "the other track that runs off on the west side of town", there are a
couple of possibilities. Even in 1919 there was the south main that ran
through the south side of Albia in a deep cut. This ran from what was Ward
Tower, now Halpin, to Maxon. This track had a lower grade for eastbounds,
but as far as I know never had a depot.
The 1909 map shows this. The track again split east of Maxon and
continues to do so today so far as I know.
There was also spur that ran from
Ward Tower up through Hiteman and served a number of coal mines in that
area. That may be the "other" track.
The 1909 map, as I interpret it, shows the following in Guilford
Township, Monroe County: About 4 miles SW of Albia was a junction
called "Tower 307." The Tower 307/Junction was in section 24 of
Guilford Township. The branch extended north/northwestly in an
arc up to Hiteman. Hiteman appears to be on the border of
sections 11 & 12 in Guilford Township. The branch appears to be
about 3 or so miles long.
Can anyone help me? When was the Des Moines branch
built, and could there have been a major relocation of
that branch through Albia during the 20s or 30s?
Sorry, hopefully someone else can.
Question: I was surprised to see the Iowa Central operated from
Albia down to Centerville. It appeared to parallel the Wabash
from Albia to Moravia. Did the Southern Iowa electric operation
later take over this track, electrify it, and then use it from
Centerville to Albia? If so, this is certainly a surprise!!
As an aside, the Q had an interesting assortment of tracks in
Appanoose County.
LWA
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